The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without their goaltender who was presumably supposed to be their starter. However, Joseph Woll is set to return between the pipes for the Maple Leafs and make his season debut. According to Elliotte Friedman, Woll will be taking the net tonight against his hometown team the St. Louis Blues.
Joseph Woll to Make Season Debut
Joseph Woll is back after missing a couple of weeks due to “lower-body tightness.” The Toronto Maple Leafs played their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9. Woll was supposed to be the starter in that game. However, moments before the Original Six matchup, news came out about Woll not being able to play due to his tightness issue. Therefore, new signing Anthony Stolarz was forced to make his Maple Leafs debut. Although it was short notice, Stolarz was not fazed by the moment and played a terrific game for Toronto.
Woll has dealt with a few injuries throughout his short career, two hefty ones last season. Before the new year in the 2023-24 season, the 26-year-old was sidelined by a high ankle sprain. That kept him off the ice for about three months of the regular season. However, he did return and in the games he played, he looked solid. He mostly played as a backup to Ilya Samsonov in the season and the early stages of the playoffs. But, for games five and six of the first round, former coach Sheldon Keefe made a goaltending switch. Woll became the starter in those two games, facing a 3-1 deficit to the Boston Bruins. Nonetheless, the Leafs goaltender was able to help even up the series. However, he suffered another injury and was unable to feature in Game 7. In the end, Toronto lost the series.
Long Road Ahead
Even though the plan was for Woll to be the starter this season, he will have to earn that title back. This is because Stolarz has been putting on a show in the meantime. Up to this point of the season, Stolarz hasn’t let in more than two goals in a game. Statistically, he’s been terrific. In five games he’s got three wins, a 1.83 GAA and a .938 save percentage. He’s played himself into the starting job with the Maple Leafs. Now that Woll has returned, he’ll need to play his way back into the starting role, or at least to be a shared tandem with Stolarz. The playoffs are still many months away, but it will be interesting to see who takes the net from this point forward.
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
